(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for integrating a safety harness into a fire fighting protective garment. More specifically, this invention relates to a mesh, preferably fire-resistant, that will hold in place a safety harness between the inner lining fabric of the firefighter protective trouser and the station wear pant of the firefighter thereby eliminating the need for openings in the liner or outer shell of the garment. More particularly, the invention will permit the integration of a wide range of commercially available safety harnesses into the firefighter garment. As well, the invention is concerned with permitting the easy inspection and adjustment of the alignment and tightness of the harness without having to separate the garment liner from the outer shell.
(b) Description of Prior Art
A firefighter protective garment is usually a coat, a pant or one-piece coverall consisting of three or more functional layers of fire-resistant materials. The various layers are normally the following:
the outer shell which provides protection against puncture, cuts, abrasion, and heat;
the moisture barrierxe2x80x94consisting usually of a woven or non-woven substrate to which a fire resistant semi-permeable polymer is coated or laminatedxe2x80x94which provides resistance to penetration by liquids and blood-borne pathogens while facilitating the transmission of metabolic heat away from the body of the firefighter;
the thermal barrierxe2x80x94usually consisting of an insulating layer of batting or non-woven fabric quilted or laminated to a woven face clothxe2x80x94which provides the bulk of the resistance to the transmission of heat from the external environment to the body of the firefighter.
A common configuration and orientation of these layers in a firefighter garment is as follows:
The outermost layer is the outer shell fabric. Moving inwards, the next functional layer is the moisture barrier, orientated with the substrate towards the outer shell and the polymer towards the inside. The next functional layer is the thermal barrier, orientated with the thicker and softer insulating layer facing the moisture barrier film and the face cloth towards the body of the firefighter.
Fire fighting protective pants are equipped with suspenders that pass over the shoulders of the wearer.
There is an increasing demand by firefighters to be able to wear a life safety harness while performing fire fighting duties. Industry has responded by making available a variety of harness designs. There are two main types of safety harness used in the fire service:
A Class II life safety harness that fastens around waist and around thighs or under buttocks;
A Class III life safety harness that fastens around waist and around thighs or under buttocks, and over shoulders.
Because the majority of safety harnesses does not employ heat or flame resistant materials, these harnesses cannot be worn on the outside of a firefighter""s protective clothing. A firefighter may wear the harness over his station wear pants before donning his firefighter protective clothing. However, to don first the harness, then the protective garment would increase unacceptably the emergency response time of the firefighter. Therefore, the firefighter would like to be able to don his harness and his protective garment simultaneously.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard 1971, Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting, dictates the design and performance requirements for boots, helmets, gloves, trousers and coats intended for structural fire fighting. NFPA 1983, Standard on Fire Service Life Safety Rope and System Components, sets performance requirements for ropes and harnesses used in the fire service.
However, neither standard provides guidance as to how a safety harness may be integrated or used with a structural fire fighting garment. As a result, manufacturers of structural fire fighting clothing have been adapting their products as they see fit to receive such safety harnesses.
The most common approach has been to incorporate the safety harness between the outer shell and the liner of the protective trouser. The parts of the harness to which a rope could eventually be attached pass through slits or openings in either the outer shell fabric or the liner of the garment.
A disadvantage to this design is that a garment with slits or openings located for one particular brand of harness may not be able to accommodate another brand of harness whose straps do not fall in exactly the same place.
A further disadvantage is that the moisture barrier, which is usually the layer immediately inside the outer shell fabric, is the most fragile element of the protective garment. As a consequence, the straps and hardware of the harness can damage the moisture barrier through pressure and friction.
And yet another disadvantage is that there is only a thin layer of outer shell fabric between the harness and the fire fighting environment. Now, many of the components of commercially available harnesses melt at temperatures below the 500xc2x0 F. minimum requirement that must be met by all the other components of the firefighter garment. Furthermore, even at temperatures as low as 300xc2x0 F.xe2x80x94temperatures which are frequently encountered in the fire fighting environmentxe2x80x94the straps or webbing material of the harness will suffer some loss of tensile strength. As a consequence, this design has the distinct disadvantage of compromising the integrity and performance of the safety harness.
One common design of harness integration involves first donning the pant liner. Then, the firefighter pulls on the harness and adjusts the leg and waist straps. And last, the firefighter pulls on the outer shell of the pant and attaches it to the liner, with critical straps passing through specially constructed openings between the outer shell and liner. Thereafter, whenever the firefighter is called to respond to an emergency he dons the entire pant with harness already in place.
A disadvantage of this system, with the harness components sandwiched between the liner and the outer shell, is that the firefighter cannot readily adjust the fit of the harness, straighten a twisted strap or inspect the harness for damage without separating the liner from the outer shell.
A further disadvantage is that firefighter cannot readily remove the harness from the garment, even if the emergency to which he is responding does not require him to have the protection afforded by a safety harness. As consequence, the firefighter is at all times encumbered by the weight and bulk of the safety harness.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of harness integration that readily permits both the integration and removal of a safety harness.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system, which is itself easily attachable and detachable from the garment.
It is an object of this invention to protect the safety harness from the heat that may be encountered in the fire fighting environment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system that interfaces with a variety of safety harnesses.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a harness integration system that meets the thermal performance requirements of NFPA 1971.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of harness integration that removes the need to secure the harness in place via openings in the different layers of the garment, or by the use of fabric loops.
It is another object of the present invention to permit easy inspection, adjustment or alignment of the safety harness when it is integrated in the garment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liner integration system that is lightweight yet strong.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce wear and damage to the moisture barrier of the liner by permitting the harness to be worn directly on the station wear pant instead of it being placed between the liner and outer shell of the fire fighter protective trouser.
The above and other objects of the invention may be achieved by providing a fire fighting protective garment adapted to be worn with a firefighter safety harness, the garment comprising a firefighter pant, which includes a waist portion, the protective garment also comprising an interior garment to be disposed inside the firefighter pant and over a station wear pant, and downwardly extending from the waist portion of the firefighter pant, means for removably fixing the safety harness to the interior garment, and means for removably attaching the interior garment to the waist portion of the firefighter pant.
The interior garment is preferably made of a material that does not restrict transmission of perspiration or metabolic heat away from the body of the wearer. For example, the interior garment may designed as a short pant and it may be made of a fire-resistant material, such as a fire-resistant mesh.
The safety harness is preferably made of strapping material including a belt portion, and is normally fixed to the interior garment through the belt portion.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is thus provided a mesh pant which is made of a material that is preferably fire-resistant to be attached to, yet easily removable from, the innermost layer of the firefighter protective garment. This mesh will retain the harness in place yet permit rapid and easy adjustment of the harnesses straps and buckles.
The mesh, in accordance with the nature of meshes, will not restrict the transmission of perspiration or metabolic heat away from the body of the wearer.
The present invention also relates to a firefighter garment comprising an outer shell, a moisture barrier and a thermal barrier, wherein an integration method is provided for removably attaching a safety harness to the firefighter garment without securing it between the outer shell and the liner and without providing slits and openings therein.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention permits the integration of a Class II or Class III life safety harness into the protective pant of the firefighter ensemble.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the shoulder straps of a Class III harness replace the suspenders of the firefighter pant thereby keeping the pants in place while reducing the combined weight and bulk of the firefighter garment and harness.